


he feels like home

by coffeecatsme



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: 5 times people try to convince luke to ask din out, 5+1 Things, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Post Season 2, and 1 time din takes it upon himself to do it, and this is my late night impulse fic, i read one fic and now i'm a dinluke mess, no beta we die like men, possible season 2 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:14:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28566780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffeecatsme/pseuds/coffeecatsme
Summary: Luke is in love.And Leia doesn’t even need her strong Force bond with her twin to know that.Or, 5 times people try to convince Luke to ask Din out, and 1 time Din takes it upon himself to do it.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Luke Skywalker, Din Djarin & Grogu | Baby Yoda, Din Djarin & Grogu | Baby Yoda & Luke Skywalker, Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu | Baby Yoda & Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa & Luke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker & Han Solo, R2-D2 & Luke Skywalker
Comments: 266
Kudos: 1804
Collections: shit for aubrey





	1. if my wishes came true, it would've been you

**Author's Note:**

> i've always claimed that a good enough fic could make me fall in love with almost any ship. my dinluke spiral over the weekend and this fic i think proves it. i told myself i wouldn't write it, since classes literally just started and i really need to focus on them, but also...i'm impulsive. so. here we are. 
> 
> anyway, hope you like this! the next chapters should hopefully come soon - knowing myself, i'll get them done in the next few days anyway.
> 
> (also, if anyone's wondering, the fic that made me fall for dinluke was More Than His Armor. it's on AO3. go check it out, i'm serious. it's brilliant.) 
> 
> (also also, chapter title is from the one by taylor swift. i've also been on a folklore and evermore spiral, so. you know. i had to.)

**1\. Leia**

Luke is in love.

And Leia doesn’t even need her strong Force bond with her twin to know that.

Luke has always worn his heart on his sleeve, so open and honest with his feelings that Leia could read every single emotion just from his eyes. Setting up his makeshift Jedi Temple and becoming some sort of a Jedi Master didn’t change that at all. Every now and then—meaning, when she’s trying to procrastinate on her work with the New Republic because _by God_ those Senators are idiots and everything takes _forever_ to get done—she looks at those old Jedi texts Luke brought to the temple, all the Jedis pictured with solemn faces, and wonders what exactly went wrong with her brother.

Never mind _solemn,_ it’s hard to find Luke without a smile on his face. Lately, though, it’s become even harder to find him without a damn _blush._

Luke is in love, and it’s so painfully obvious that Leia is surprised it isn’t common knowledge at this point. She’s even more surprised that his… “object” of attention seems just as oblivious. It’s as if Luke’s eyes haven’t been following him everywhere ever since he landed on Yavin IV. It’s as if Luke doesn’t use every single excuse to spend time with him and his son, even outside of training hours. It’s as if Luke hasn’t spent more time at the man’s house than his own, so much so that he only goes back to sleep, and that only because he’s at least decent enough not to stay over without explicit permission.

At this point, Leia isn’t sure who’s the idiot—Luke, who cannot gather the courage to ask out someone he’s been in love with for months, or Din, who by the looks of it seems completely unaware of Luke’s pining.

She is sure, however, that there is no way Luke is asking _anyone_ out without a little nudge in the right direction.

Leia lets the Force bond lead him to the clearing behind the temple, spotting Luke from his glimmering blonde hair under the summer sun. He’s sitting on the grass, arms supporting him from behind, watching two figures hunt around the line of trees a bit ahead. Even without the shiny beskar armor, Leia would’ve known who they were.

Instead of greeting Luke, she plops down next to him, glancing at her oblivious twin. “You missed lunch,” she says in an attempt to get his attention.

The fact that Luke jumps shows just how _engrossed_ he was watching Din—normally, he would’ve easily felt Leia come through the force. A blush quickly creeps up his cheeks, and Leia finds herself grinning.

“Lunch?” Luke’s voice is thin when he finally opens his mouth. “What lunch?”

“The lunch. With Han and I. You promised you’d join us yesterday.” She arches a brow. Luke at least has the decency to look embarrassed. He runs a quick hand through his hair, turning his blonde locks into more of a mess than they already were.

“Sorry. I was caught up.”

“With training Grogu?” Leia gestures at the little green womp rat, who’s currently running after a frog in front of his father—Din honestly just seems resigned at his son’s unique taste in food—and then glances at Luke. She is pretty sure his eyes aren’t on Grogu at all, but instead watching Din’s figure.

(Granted, Leia has to admit that Din is _hot._ Yes, she’s never seen his face—apparently, the helmet is a big thing for the Mandalorians—but it doesn’t matter. With his armor and built, he attracts a lot of eyes around the place. Even beyond that, though, what charms Leia the most is his absolute _softness_ with Grogu, which is a complete opposite of the harsh, strong bounty hunter image he creates at first glance. That man holds the child as if the kid would break at the smallest touch.)

“Uh huh,” Luke hums, absentmindedly wetting his lips. Din is bending down now, picking Grogu up before he plops down into the mud, giving Leia and Luke a good look at his back. The woman chuckles.

“Are you sure? Because it looks like you’re just drooling over Din right now.”

“Uh huh—wait, what?” Luke’s words catch up with him too late. His blue eyes shoot up, staring at Leia widely. “I’m not drooling over anyone.”

“Yeah, right. Is that why your face is red all over?”

“My face is not—” Luke covers his cheeks with his hands and sputters. “I’m _not_ staring at Din. I’m not staring at anything. Just watching Grogu. That’s what I was doing. Making sure he was safe and he was being trained properly and I definitely did not miss lunch because I wanted to spend more time with—with Grogu, I mean! With Grogu.” Leia can easily feel Luke’s panic through the Force bond—that’s a good thing, too, because she completely misses the rest of his words as she bursts into a loud laugh. Luke’s face is a mix of offense and terror as he watches his twin.

His shoulders slump halfway through Leia’s laugh. He turns back to Din, picking at the grass under his legs. The tips of his ears are still red, slightly hidden by his hair. “It’s so obvious, isn’t it?” he whispers, eyes finding Din again. The Mandalorian is sitting with Grogu now, letting the kid tuck flowers around his armor.

Leia’s laugh dies down immediately. She wants to tell Luke that it’s only clear to her because she knows him so well, but she knows even his own students made bets among themselves to see whether the Jedi and the Mandalorian would date or not. She sighs.

“You’re not good at hiding your feelings, Luke,” she says, angling her body towards him. Luke’s shoulders slump. Leia can easily read his thoughts—if it’s that obvious, and Din hasn’t made a move yet, he must not want Luke back, right? Leia tries to offer him an encouraging smile. “But if you ask me, I don’t think he knows.”

“He does.” Luke takes his face in his hands and lets out a frustrated groan. “He must, right? He’s not stupid. He’s really smart actually, you know. And observant. He doesn’t even have a Force bond with Grogu and he reads the kid better than I do. He must know I like him. He just doesn’t care.” Luke’s voice cracks at the end, and Leia’s heart breaks for her twin. She reaches out and puts a hand on his shoulder.

“When we love someone, sometimes we don’t see what’s blatantly in front of us.” Luke stays silent, eyes closed. Leia turns to Din, watching him collect the flowers from around his armor and make a small bouquet. It looks like Grogu is pointing their way, more specifically at Luke, and Leia smiles. For a moment, she lets herself think that Grogu is trying to convince his father to give the flowers to Luke and make the first move.

“Just talk to him?” she offers with a shrug. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

“I’ll die,” Luke groans, finally lifting his head. “From embarrassment. I won’t be able to look at him again.”

Leia almost makes a joke about how Luke never sees Din’s face anyway. _Almost_.


	2. now I'm covered in you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> watch me spend six hours today absolutely not doing work because i wanted to draw din and grogu, and then my brilliant mind decided to write this chapter. it's like almost 1 am here and i know i'll regret this tomorrow but...here we go. hope you like this!
> 
> p.s. title is from ivy by taylor swift

**2\. Han**

Whenever a ship breaks, Han is one of the first people the town calls. Everyone knows his contributions to the rebellion, and if he has to admit, he’s not half bad at being a mechanic. He’s better at it, at least, than being a smuggler.

Which isn’t much, but it’s something. Leia is at least happy that he’s doing something _legal_ so she doesn’t have to explain to the Senate why his husband is meddling with criminals. It also earns him enough that his wife isn’t the only breadwinner in the house.

(Well, she’s the primary breadwinner, but Han can hold his own. He _can._ )

Luke is one of those people. Whenever some ship breaks in the Jedi Temple, or one of the parents needs a second look, Luke calls Han. Well, correction. He _used to_ call Han. Now Han only gets those calls whenever a certain someone is away.

Han is pretty sure Luke thinks he’s being sneaky about it. It’s as if Han wouldn’t notice just how much his skills as a mechanic improved over the last few months. Or that he’s more likely to hang out in the ships his “friend” is fixing rather than leaving him be, like he used to. Or that whenever Han visits the Jedi temple and asks about Luke, the answer he gets is “with Mando”.

Today is no exception. Han arrives at the temple in the early morning, quickly spotting the few kids sparring in the clearing. Before he even asks for Luke, they all point at Din’s ship, amusement shining in their eyes.

“Master Din my ass,” Han huffs as he climbs the short distance to the ship. “What’s that man done for the kids? Just because he gives a few lessons…” He stops to take a breath, cursing his knees. Why did Din insist on parking his ship on top of a damn hill? “And teaches them how to spar or whatever doesn’t make him a Master.”

He’s pretty sure Luke would’ve argued if the boy heard that, but Luke isn’t here and besides he always jumps to Din’s defense anyway, so it doesn’t matter. He stops a short way from the ship and squints.

Din and Luke are outside, tending to the ship’s engine. Well, Din is tending to the engine, standing on a rock and reaching inside, while Luke sits by his feet, Grogu on his lap, and just watches him. Even from far away, Han can see the blush tinting the boy’s cheeks. He looks at Din as if the man is the damn savior of the universe and Han internally groans. The boy doesn’t even realize that he’s here yet—his Force sense are as useless as a baby’s when Din’s around.

Han then looks at Grogu, who’s nibbling on what looks like a dessert as he stares at Han. Maybe even worse than a baby’s.

“You know you can borrow one of the New Republic’s ships, right?” Luke says, voice high and a bit shaky. It’s a miracle Din hasn’t picked up on Luke’s feelings yet. “I know you love this junk, but—”

“It isn’t a junk, Luke.”

“I mean, you have to fix it every single time you go out there.”

“And I’m fine with that. This ship predates the Empire. It’s nearly untraceable.” Din pokes his head—well, helmet—out of the engine. “Can you pass me that wrench?”

“I just want to make sure you’re safe.” Luke makes the wrench fly into Din’s hand, to the man’s apparent dismay. He grumbles something that resembles, _You’d rather I never leave on these missions,_ and Han snorts. Luke and Leia have a lot in common, and their desire to keep their loved ones close by is one of them.

“You know you don’t have to show off the Force every time I ask for something,” Din continues, and there is a shit-eating grin on Luke’s face. “You can just…hand it to me.”

“You’re always delighted when Grogu does it.”

“Grogu is a kid.” Din pops out of the engine again to stare down at Luke. With the helmet, it looks even more imposing, but Luke just keeps smiling. “You’re a Jedi _Master_.”

“Pfft. Mastership is overrated.”

“You said it was important when your Padawans started calling me that.” 

“I mean…sure.” Luke’s grin, if possible, widens. “Very important.”

Han is pretty sure Din rolls his eyes under that helmet. Afraid that his brother-in-law will get his ass beaten if he continues to rile up the Mandalorian, Han decides to intervene. (And no, he’s not jealous at all. Luke and Din may be cute with their oblivious pining to each other, but he has a wife, damn it. Just because they seem to be happy and bubbly and Han feels like his days are filled mostly with cleaning Ben’s messes doesn’t mean he’s jealous. At all.)

“I knew I’d find you here, kid.” Luke jumps with Han’s voice and looks up, almost dropping Grogu from his hands. Din stops whatever he’s doing when Grogu makes a garbled noise.

“Han?” Luke gently places Grogu on the grass, to the kid’s dismay, and stands up. “What are _you_ doing here?” Then, his face turns a deep shade of crimson. “I didn’t miss another breakfast, right? I swear this was gonna be quick, but then we were just talking and—”

“No, not this time.” Han arches a brow and watches Din almost protectively place himself next to Luke. Grogu is in his arms, trying to tuck a daisy in his armor. The Mandalorian doesn’t even look like he cares.

(Granted, Han saw a pretty picture of Din with a bunch of flowers tucked around his armor thanks to R2, so he’s pretty sure Din’s fine with the flowers.)

“Leia wants you back at the house. Something about Senators and Jedi Order and whatnot. I stopped listening halfway through her explanation.” Luke blinks.

“But the ship—”

“I’m sure Din can take care of it without you Force floating his wrenches.”

“That’s not _all_ I do.” Han’s pretty sure Din snorts. _Pretty sure._ Luke just shoots him a glare before he picks up his black robe from the grass, throwing it on as if it’s supposed to make him look less like a boy and more like a Master. The blush on his cheeks and his messy mop of blonde hair says otherwise. “Okay, _fine,_ I’m coming. And don’t _you”_ —Luke points a finger at Din—“dare leave the planet before I’m back. I want to make sure the ship is in good shape before I let you leave.”

“You wouldn’t be able to tell the difference,” Din says, though he sounds amused. Grogu babbles something that sounds a lot like agreement, and Luke’s face turns even redder, so much so that he looks sunburnt. At least that would be less _embarrassing._

They aren’t even halfway to the Jedi temple that Han turns to his brother-in-low. “So, how much longer do we have to sit through you awkwardly trying to flirt with Din before you ask him out?”

Luke stumbles and only keeps himself upright by holding onto Han’s shoulder. “How do you—” Han just arches a brow. “I’m not—I mean we’re not… I’m not asking Din out!”

“Why not? You’ve been pining for him for months.”

“He’s a friend! And I… Uh, I’m not losing that just because I might have a teeny tiny crush on him.” _Teeny tiny my ass,_ Han thinks. Luke would probably say yes right then and there if Din proposed. 

“So you’re telling me that a guy who blew up a Death Star and defeated the Emperor almost single-handedly is afraid of a little _rejection?_ ”

Luke looks a mixture of offended and desperate. “Leia at least offered some sympathy,” he grumbles, following Han into the Jedi Temple. Han just laughs.

“I’ll tell you this—I won’t be the one picking up your pieces if you wait too long and lose him to someone else.”

Luke stops a few steps behind Han. “You know that’s not helping, right? You have to know that’s not helping.”


	3. i once was a poison ivy, but now i'm your daisy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took me a while, i legit rewrote the entire thing at least three times. i'm pretty happy with how it turned out, though, so hopefully you'll enjoy it, too!

**3\. Anakin**

Luke likes to spar with Din. A lot.

When he’s not teaching his students, meditating, or Din isn’t busy with something else, the first place Anakin looks to find Luke is the clearing right next to the Jedi temple. Din cuts an imposing figure with his beskar armor compared to Luke’s usually messy hair and clothes barely thick enough to count as fabric, and yet they are pretty much evenly matched. Luke can counter Din’s every swing and hit with his lightsaber, and while he has the advantage of the Force on his side, the Mandalorian is resourceful enough to recover easily. Their sparring sessions can last as long as hours without either of them getting the upper hand, and they usually end a sweaty mess.

Well, Luke ends a sweaty mess. With the beskar armor and helmet, it’s hard to tell with Din.

What is _not_ hard to tell for Anakin is that Din enjoys these sessions just as much as Luke. Sure, after them Luke’s always glowing, as if all his exhaustion is sucked away by his happiness. It’s easy to read all of that from his eyes. Even with the helmet, though, Din radiates such a positive energy that Anakin’s able to catch onto it.

It should bother Anakin. His son, his little _baby_ —yes, Luke is an adult and _yes,_ Anakin really doesn’t get to call him a baby when he pretty much abandoned him all throughout his childhood, but Anakin will always see his son as a young, naïve boy and he’ll be _damned_ if he doesn’t protect him—is in love with someone. A _guy,_ no less, who probably used to kill people for sport and pretty much looks like the definition of toxic masculinity. Guys suck like 99% of the time—Anakin should know, he’s one of them.

Except, and Anakin is surprised himself, he’s _not bothered._ Sure, Din might look all manly in that armor of his, but Anakin knows inside, Din is the opposite of what he looks like. Being a Force ghost gives Anakin the unique ability to peer into the man’s personal life without being spotted, and once he figured out that Luke had a not-so-tiny crush on the Mandalorian, he isn’t ashamed to admit that he made it his personal goal to “vet the man”. Obi-Wan called him mad and that Jedis “didn’t stalk people”, but this was Anakin’s _son._ He wasn’t about to let his heart be broken by a stupid Mandalorian.

Anakin was a hundred percent ready to hate Din, and yet, about a week later, he had to admit defeat. Even Obi-Wan was surprised just how little time it took for Anakin to approve of his son’s soon-to-be-boyfriend. Yet Obi-Wan wasn’t the one who watched Din carefully keep all the flowers Grogu tucked around his armor around his house. He wasn’t the one who watched Din let Grogu play with his hair—whenever they were away from everyone else, at least, and the helmet could come off. He wasn’t the one who watched Din sing lullabies to Grogu, or spend hours in the forest hunting frogs for the kid, or prick his hand multiple times trying to fix tears in the kid’s clothes. Din, by all accounts, is a soft and loving father, and Anakin can imagine he’ll be the same with Luke if they ever start dating.

And yes, Anakin’s heart melts whenever he sees Grogu happy with his father. The little womp rat is _cute._

Really, knowing all the other guys around—knowing _Han,_ who Anakin is still not completely okay with and would’ve already beheaded if he wasn’t just a ghost—it could’ve been much worse. Luke could’ve been in love with, God forbid, another Han type. Instead, he chose the soft, single father. To pretty much everyone’s surprise, Anakin supports the budding relationship.

Still, he would like Luke to get his head out of his ass and actually as Din out sooner rather than later, because by God it is painful to watch the boy toe around flirting with Din and chicken out every time.

Anakin finds Luke and Din, as always, in the clearing that Tuesday morning, before the sun is even out. Their morning sparring sessions don’t last as long as the afternoon ones, mainly because Luke has to teach a lesson around eight, and R2 can only take care of Grogu for so long. Anakin watches them silently from a distance, the corners of his lips quirking up whenever he hears Luke’s laugh.

Luke laughs a lot when he’s around Din. And it’s…it’s _nice._

It’s after the sparring session is over that Anakin starts approaching the duo. He doesn’t miss the way Luke glances Din’s way every now and then, cheeks flushed red. His hair is stuck to his forehead in golden locks and his lightsaber, resting on the ground next to his cloak, is forgotten.

He watches Din kneel down to pick an especially large daisy from the ground. If possible, Luke’s cheeks flush even more.

“I didn’t know you liked flowers,” he teases, even though Anakin can clearly hear that his voice is just an octave too thin.

“I don’t mind them.”

“Right. Is that why you pick them wherever you go?” His smile falters slightly, though Din seems like he doesn’t notice. “Do you have a special someone I should know about?”

Is it Anakin, or does Din’s shoulders stiffen with the implication? The Mandalorian looks up, his helmet unreadable. Luke immediately clears his throat. “I mean… Not that it’s any of my business. I was just—”

“The flowers are for Grogu.” Din’s voice is impossibly soft, even though the modifier. Luke’s babble is cut short and his mouth drops open. “He took a liking to them. Picks them up wherever we go.”

“Oh. Right. Of course.” Relief is palpable on Luke’s face. His smile returns. “He does like to decorate your armor with them.”

Anyone else, and they might be offended. But Anakin just feels Din’s smile.

“He thinks the beskar is too dull. I learned not to give him paint whenever he’s within the reach of it.”

“Oh, I would’ve liked to see that.”

“Don’t even think about it.” Luke just grins and crosses his arms, ready to shoot back an answer when Din changes the subject. “Grogu thinks you like flowers, too.”

To anyone else, it would’ve sounded like an offhand comment. Except Grogu is a Force user and never mind the Force, Luke isn’t even good at hiding his feelings from the outside world. He goes crimson.

“I mean, I’m… I just think they’re… Pretty. You know. I grew up on Tatooine so with all the sand and all… It’s just a welcome difference. That’s it.” Anakin wants to facepalm. Luke is definitely not helping himself and Anakin can feel amusement radiating off of Din. The man twirls the daisy in his hand once, and then with what feels like an impulsive decision, lifts it up to tuck it behind Luke’s ear.

Luke stops breathing. Anakin is seconds away from bursting into laughter—he keeps it in only to not interrupt the moment, even though he doubts Luke would hear him at all.

“They look good on you,” Din comments, a smile in his voice. He then gathers his weapons, tucks them to his armor, and leaves.

Anakin steps next to his son, watching him with a grin on his face. Luke seems completely unaware of his presence. “That’s a pretty flower,” he comments, tucking his hands into his pockets.

Luke jumps, head spinning to turn to his father. His eyes are a bright blue on his flushed face. With shaky fingers, he gently touches the flower.

“So, when are you gonna ask him out?”

“I’m—” Luke sputters, shaking his head. The flower almost drops and his slight panic as he grasps his ear is _adorable_. “I’m _not…_ He doesn’t like me like that.”

“You can’t be serious,” Anakin deadpans, eyes on the flower. “What else does he need to do, go down on one knee and propose?”

 _“Dad_.”

“I’m just saying. If I said the same thing about your mom, you wouldn’t have been here.”

“So what, I just go up to him and be like, ‘Hey, I know we’re friends and I know I’m technically your son’s teacher, and Jedis and Mandalorians aren’t supposed to mix anyway, but how about we have dinner together? Oh, wait, you have a helmet on, so that doesn’t work. And you probably don’t feel the same anyway—‘”

“Luke.” Anakin stops his son’s babble, putting a hand on his shoulder. Luke technically can’t feel it, but at least some tension seems to seep out of the boy. He looks so young with bright blue eyes and messy blonde locks. “You don’t need all the flowery language. He'll say yes whatever comes out of your mouth.”

“Yeah, right. Of course.”

“But if you want my advice,” and this time Anakin can’t help grinning, “tell him you hate sand. Works every time, trust me. Tested and tried.”

Luke’s face turns blank for a moment, brows furrowed. “That is the _worst_ advice I’ve ever heard.”

Anakin’s laugh echoes in the clearing.


	4. there was some invisible string tying you to me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am so very sorry for bringing angst into this. i told myself i'd make it a happy fluffy story. i told myself it wouldn't be angsty. but i know myself, and god this chapter just didn't leave my mind for the last few days. i had to write it. i. am. SORRY.
> 
> anyway, hope you like this!
> 
> p.s. title is from invisible string by taylor swift

**4\. R2-D2**

Leia is the first one who notices Luke’s sudden liking to flowers.

It starts with the daisy, which Luke wears in his ear for an entire day before he sheepishly goes up to her and asks for a nice glass to put it in. Leia doesn’t question it—she doesn’t have to. When her brother is flushed like that, she knows it has to do something with Din.

It doesn’t stop with the daisy. Soon enough, Luke’s bedside table is covered in flowers of all colors. Whenever Leia visits, it seems like there’s another flower added to the mix. Soon enough the table isn’t enough and Luke starts placing flowers on his bookshelves, the windowsill, even the floor. He insists that each flower needs its own glass—apparently they’re all _special_ and he’s not letting himself get them mixed up. He even _labels_ them, for some reason, though the labels are so vague that almost no one other than Luke knows that they mean. Luke’s house starts to look more and more like Din’s, with Grogu bringing flowers to the latter’s place every single day.

Han thinks the flowers are from Din, and Leia agrees. What she doesn’t agree on is that Han believes they’re dating and just keeping it a secret. Leia, however, is pretty sure Luke will never in a million years gather enough courage to ask Din out, and she knows if Din was the one that asked Luke out, she would’ve felt a surge of happiness through the Force bond. The flowers are probably from Din, but Luke being Luke, it’s likely that he thinks Din’s just being friendly.

Stupid of him, if you ask Leia, but she can’t get it through Luke’s thick skull that maybe, _just maybe_ , his feelings aren’t unreciprocated.

Anakin finds the whole situation incredibly amusing. He knows for a fact that the flowers are from Din, mainly because he’s mostly there when Din tucks the flowers on Luke’s robes or behind his ear. Every single time leaves Luke breathless and red all over. His son probably would’ve smacked Anakin upside down for laughing at him if Anakin wasn’t a Force ghost.

Consequently, Anakin also knows what the labels on the flowers mean. _Midnight_ was when Luke bumped into Din on the way back to his place and Din, almost absentmindedly, handed Luke one of the flowers he collected for Grogu. _Stars_ was when Luke was teaching Din the constellations and their meaning to the Jedi, and Din just grabbed the nearest white flower that reminded him of a star and tucked it under Luke’s collar. (Anakin will never forget Luke’s squeal after that.) _Bookmark_ was when Luke had “totally friendly, not at all romantic” picnic with Din and Grogu, forgot to bring a bookmark, and Din just casually put a flower between the pages to act as one.

But the one Luke cherishes the most is the flower labeled _First_ —the daisy Din tucked behind Luke’s ear after the sparring session. Luke spends at least a minute staring at it every morning, a dopey grin on his face, before he starts the day. Most days, Anakin is sure that one flower gives him the strength to go on.

So it’s no surprise that Luke is on the verge of tears when the daisy starts to wilt.

He’s sitting on his bed, the first light of the day shimmering through the window, the glass that holds the lone daisy resting in his shaky fingers. The petals already started to droop days ago, but now the green of the stem is turning yellow and the middle part looks like a dull yellow rather than bright orange. He’s trying to focus the Force to heal the daisy, even though deep down he knows it’s useless. The flower is in last stages of his life; no amount of Force can bring it back.

A lone tears streams down Luke’s cheek and drops on the flower. He sniffs and rubs his cheek. _Stupid, stupid, stupid._ He’s crying over _one damn flower_ when his room is literally filled with them and he’s pretty sure Din won’t just randomly stop giving them. It shouldn’t even mean that much to Luke, considering Din gave it to him as something of an afterthought—it was meant for Grogu initially. And yet…

Yet it’s the _first flower Din gave him._ It’s the first time Luke felt Din’s gloved fingers brush his cheek as he tucked the flower behind his ear. It’s the first time he thought that maybe, _just maybe_ Din loves him back, maybe the flower is a hint of that, maybe his feelings aren’t as unreciprocated as he thought.

The flower represents Luke’s hope, and now it’s _wilting._

Luke sniffs again, and this time, his thought process is interrupted by a curious beep coming from the back corner of the room. R2 moves closer to the bed. For being just a droid, the damn thing is so attuned to Luke’s feelings that it’s immediately able to pick up on the fact that the Jedi Master is upset.

“I can’t heal the daisy,” Luke tries to explain, voice shaky. R2 beeps, clearly confused, and moves around the bed. It quickly scans the daisy and the room falls silent. “Can you help?” Luke asks, a useless hope blooming in his chest. “Look up how to save it. How to use the Force to bring it back. There has to be a way, I just…” Somehow, the droid manages to look apologetic. It beeps quietly, bumping one of its legs to Luke’s in a show of support.

Another tear escapes Luke’s eyes. And then another. “There’s nothing to do.” It’s not much of a question, really. R2 beeps again, its apology ringing in Luke’s ears. He turns to the flower, gently caressing the drooping petals, and bites down on his lips to swallow back his sobs. “It’s the first flower he gave to me and I couldn’t even keep it alive.”

_Now_ R2 looks positively offended. It beeps multiple times, claiming that Luke managed to keep the damn thing alive for close to five weeks—a miracle for a flower that someone picked from the ground. If anything, the Jedi did a marvelous job taking care of the flower. And Luke knows, deep down he _knows_ R2 is right and it isn’t as if the daisy could’ve lived forever, but…

“I love him so much, R2.” The confession leaves Luke’s lips quietly. He continues to stare at the daisy, hands tightening around the glass. R2 perks up, bumping on Luke’s leg again.

_Ask him out,_ its saying. _He loves you. He would be happy._ You _would be happy._

“I can’t.” Luke shakes his head, sprinkling his tears on the sheets of the bed. He can’t stop the tears anymore—he doesn’t even bother wiping them away. He just lets them fall on the flower, as if they could bring it back to life. “I can’t risk it. I can’t risk losing what we have right now.”

Another few beeps, and Luke is reminded of the numerous times Din skirted around flirting with him. With anyone else, Luke would’ve immediately identified the signs. With anyone else, Luke wouldn’t be as scared. But Din is different. Din is… _everything._

“I know you all think he loves me back. Leia tells me that every single day. Han thinks it’s so funny that I can’t gather up the courage to ask him out. Even my father’s laughing to my face. They think it’s so clear cut, that I’ll ask him out and everything will be okay, but…” He nibbles on his lower lip, eyes firmly focused on the petals of the daisy. Even under the morning light, they look unhealthy. “But what if he says no? What if I’m just a close friend to him, and I’ll just lose him forever because of my stupid feelings?”

The room is still. R2 lets the words hang in the air before he takes his claw out, offering what he can in terms of comfort. Luke’s eyes flicker to the metal resting on his knee and for a moment, wishes it was Din. Wishes Din was here to hug him, to tell him that they’d be okay, they’d be together, Luke didn’t have to fear asking him out because he loved him back just as fiercely…

“I’ve never felt this way about anyone, R2.” Luke finally lifts his head to look at the droid. “I just want to be around him all the time. Something happens and I think, ‘Oh, Din would love to hear about this.’ I’m upset and it’s him I want to hold. I hear a joke and I want to tell him so I can hear him laugh because his laugh is so soft and so beautiful and it feels incredible to know that I made it happen. I put that smile on his face, I got that laugh from him. And, you know, he gives me these flowers and I think he loves me, he must love me, right? But I just can’t bring myself to ask him because if it’s not true, I’ll lose everything we’ve built together and I don’t…” His lips are so wobbly that he has to stop. Words are knotted into his throat as he stares at R2 through the blur of his tears. Somehow, it’s easier to talk to the droid than anyone else. At least R2 doesn’t judge him for his feelings. The droid offers whatever comfort it can, even though it’s two strong arms around him that Luke yearns for.

As if on cue, someone gently knocks on Luke’s door. After staring at the wilted flower for another second, Luke stands up, sloppily wipes his cheeks and goes to the door. In hindsight, he should’ve known it was Din. He should’ve felt the man’s presence.

Instead, he just throws open the door.

Din is obviously ready for their sparring session, carrying his beskar spear and multiple guns tucked into his belt, but he comes to a complete stop when he sees Luke. The Jedi can almost feel him frown underneath the helmet.

“Luke, is everything okay?” His hand goes to his gun, eyes skimming around the room. Luke wants to say something—he opens his mouth even, ready to dismiss the question, to tell him that everything was fine, but nothing comes out. The knot in his throat is just too much and he can’t speak. He’s shaking all over, staring at Din’s chest, and his eyes fills with tears all over again.

Suddenly, a strong grip falls on his shoulders. It’s Din, who pulls him close, letting him bury his face to the crook of his neck, where his helmet meets his shoulder. It’s slightly uncomfortable, with the helmet digging into the side of Luke’s head, but it doesn’t matter. Din’s here, Din’s holding him, and Luke just _breaks_. Sobs rack his body as he holds onto the Mandalorian, fingers digging into the fabric around his armor.

He barely feels Din walk him into the room, closing the door behind them. What he _does_ feel is the man removing the helmet. Instead of the uncomfortable beskar, Luke’s head is now rested against Din’s soft cheek, hair brushing his slight stubble. His bare hand meets the nape of Luke’s neck, rubbing soothing circles.

Luke doesn’t even feel the need to look up at him. He shuts his eyes tightly, just holding onto his love, letting all his worries and fears melt away.

“I couldn’t save the daisy,” he whispers minutes later. Din stops, confusion radiating off of him, but then Luke hears R2 beep and he’s pretty sure the droid is presenting the flower to the man.

Din’s chuckle reverberates inside Luke. “Grogu likes them dry, anyway. He wants to frame them and hang them up in our house.” He moves his head, and Luke is pretty sure it’s Din’s lips he felt on his hair. “And if you want another one, we can just grab it. This place isn’t lacking in daisies. I’m pretty sure I saw some beautiful ones just outside the cafeteria.”

Luke thinks Din knows whatever this is, it isn’t about the damn daisy. But the other man lets it go. He doesn’t ask questions, and Luke loves him even more for it. He keeps his face pressed on Din’s shoulder and nods. “I’d… I’d like that.”


	5. haunted by the look in my eyes (that would've loved you for a lifetime)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who spent the entire sunday afternoon writing this? anyway, this is a bit of a longer chapter, but i hope you like this! also, we're quickly approaching the end of this story, and i'll be honest, i love writing dinluke so much that i'd love to write more for this ship. but i don't have any ideas right now, so i wanna open this up to you guys! if you have any dinluke fic requests, leave it in the comments, and i'll try to get to them as quickly as possible! (note, i'm studying in college, so no promises).
> 
> TL;DR: if you have dinluke fic requests, leave it in the comments!

**5\. Grogu**

Luke and Din don’t talk about “the morning”. It’s a silent agreement between them. It was a moment of weakness for Luke, his stupid feelings overwhelming him out of nowhere, and Din was just there to support him through it.

Luke is so grateful to the Mandalorian for that. Din didn’t mock him for his breakdown, he didn’t laugh, he didn’t ask what was wrong. He just stayed with Luke however long the Jedi needed it, and then asked if Luke wanted to have breakfast—it was still not too late to grab some food from the cafeteria.

Later that day, Luke found a framed daisy on his bed. He didn’t need a note to know who it was from.

The Mandalorian probably knows that Luke’s breakdown, while initiated by the damn daisy, actually had nothing to do with it. Maybe he even guessed that Luke has feelings for him. But he doesn’t say a word, and it’s…it’s _good._ Better than the alternative—better than him leaving because he either thinks Luke is a little baby or he doesn’t want to deal with the Jedi’s feelings.

In theory, it’s _great._ Except Luke can’t quite forget the feel of Din’s arms around him, his cheek pressed against his forehead, bare hands rubbing the nape of his neck and brushing his hair. He can’t quite forget that Din took his helmet off _just like that,_ because Luke needed him, because it would be more comfortable, because leaning against his cheek instead of the cold surface of a helmet was more _grounding._ Din, who refused to take off his helmet even while sleeping if he was afraid that someone would walk in on him, _took his helmet off for Luke._

He can’t quite forget that Din was completely fine with Luke seeing his face, and it was the Jedi himself who kept his eyes shut the whole time. He even cradled Luke’s face in his hands, skin rough but touch so gentle, and wiped his tears away. “I don’t know if this is just about the daisy or something else, but I’m here, Luke. Whatever you need.”

_Whatever you need._ That’s what Din said. And what Luke needed was a kiss— _Din’s_ kiss, reassuring him that his fears were unfounded. Except those fears got the better of him and instead of pulling Din close, Luke dropped his hands onto his lap.

“I’m okay,” he whispered and pulled back, eyes still firmly closed. “I’m okay now.”

That was the last thing either of them said about “the morning”. Right after that, Din put his helmet back on and they went to get breakfast, going about their day as if nothing happened.

Except something changed between them. As if a switch is flipped, Din starts to spend more and more time with Luke. The flowers don’t stop, but Din starts giving Luke ones that are carefully dried as well, as if he’s acutely aware just how much Luke cherishes the flowers and doesn’t want him to lose them. Their sparring sessions don’t end, but they end up having breakfast together after that. Din is always early to Grogu’s training, giving them time to catch up, and he always invites Luke wherever he’s going with Grogu. He even starts to show up randomly at Luke’s place, two cups of tea in hand, inviting him over to just hang out a little bit. And Luke… Luke _likes it._ He even lets himself believe, every now and then, that this is Din’s attempt at courting him—words obviously don’t come easily to the Mandalorian, so he shows his love with his actions. Luke is pretty sure that’s why Din gives him so many flowers—he does the same for Grogu, to show the kid just how much he’s loved. He lets himself believe that maybe he shouldn’t be so afraid of asking Din out.

He toys with the idea, turning it around in his head for weeks. And just as he finally has the courage to ask him out, he gets called on a mission.

It isn’t often that the New Republic asks Luke on any mission. They usually let him lead his Jedi Temple and recruit students, as long as he promises to stay on good terms with the Republic. However, they apparently discovered an abandoned Sith artefact or whatever, and the senators don’t even want to touch it with a ten-foot pole. So it’s up to Luke to investigate and make sure it isn’t dangerous.

He doesn’t tell Din about the mission.

It’s stupid. Leia thinks he definitely should mention it, just for the fact that Luke is training Grogu and it will have to be interrupted briefly. Leia promised to take care of the rest of Luke’s students, but Grogu and Din are special. Luke knows that they deserve a proper explanation and goodbye, just in case…

Yet it feels too final to Luke. If he says the words, if he says goodbye, he’s acknowledging that he thinks he might not come back from the mission. He’s acknowledging that it might be dangerous. That opens up a whole other can of worms, reminding him that he could’ve been with Din all this time and lost his chance because he was too scared and…

If he never has that goodbye, he has to come back. He has to return so that he has his chance with Din.

The thoughts are milling around in his head as he loads up his X-Wing, before even the first light of day. He’s so distracted that he almost misses the small presence in the Force until it’s right next to him. He looks down to see Grogu’s bright brown eyes looking at him.

Luke’s first thought is to wonder how exactly Grogu left Din’s house without waking the Mandalorian up. Din is a light sleeper—and _don’t_ ask Luke how he knows that—and Luke thinks he would’ve definitely woken up if Grogu randomly decided to take a morning stroll.

Except Luke trains Grogu and he knows the little womp rat is incredibly smart and sneaky when he needs to be.

A smile pulls Luke’s lips at the sight of the kid, kneeling down and picking him up. “What are you doing here?” he asks softly, one finger curling around Grogu’s ear. “You shouldn’t leave your dad’s house like that. Not everyone’s as nice as he is.”

Grogu coos and it sounds a lot like he’s offended. He then points to somewhere behind Luke, babbling something that sounds a lot like “dada”.

The meaning is clear, even without the Force. Grogu wants Luke to say goodbye to Din.

Luke lets out a shaky breath and follows Grogu’s finger, looking in the general direction of Din’s house. It’s not that much of a walk—it’d take him only about five minutes if he’s fast enough. But if he goes there, he actually has to explain to Din why he’s wearing his formal Jedi robes, why he has a pilot suit on, and why he’s awake before the sun is even up. He has to explain to Din that he’s leaving and say goodbye, and…

“It’s fine, Grogu,” he murmurs, trying to keep the shakiness in his voice to a minimum. “I’ll come back. I promise. And then I’ll tell your dad just how much he means to me.” Grogu coos again, anger tightening the Force bond between them. His eyes, which sometimes seem too old for the kid’s relative age, look accusatory.

“I’m not avoiding it. But there’s no point in me bringing it up now, if I’m leaving anyway,” Luke tries to argue. Grogu just stares at him. “I’ll just… It’ll hurt us both more if anything happens.”

A voice inside his head, a voice that sounds eerily like a mixture of Grogu, Leia, Han, and Anakin, whispers, _you’ll hurt more if something_ does _happen._ Luke has no doubt that he’d be able to come back as a Force ghost if anything were to happen, but Din is not Force sensitive. Luke’s death would essentially mean losing him for Din. Maybe he’d even move on, eventually, and find someone else to grow old with. Someone else to raise Grogu with. Luke feels sick.

“But…it’s too late, isn’t it?” His eyes are glassy as he stares at the X-Wing, holding Grogu just a bit tighter. He’s speaking mostly to himself, but Grogu wiggles in his arms and coos, his claws lightly brushing Luke’s chin. Luke is suddenly transported back to the first day he met Din on the light cruiser. From Grogu’s memories, it’s easy to see that the fateful night was the first time the kid saw his father’s face.

Back then, Luke didn’t care much that the Mandalorian took off his helmet. He wasn’t very familiar with their culture and he assumed, innocently, that it wasn’t a big deal. It’s only later, when he reached out to Din and invited him to the Jedi Temple, that he learned more about Din’s culture. He learned just how much it meant for Din to remove his helmet like that, to show his face to Grogu despite his beliefs, to give his son a memory to hold onto if they never saw each other again. It could’ve been easier to let go without it, but Din chose to be vulnerable with his son, he chose to give a piece of himself to the kid instead of cutting ties and walking away from everything Grogu meant to him.

Din gave up everything for Grogu that day, and now Luke is struggling to even say a simple goodbye to protect his own feelings.

Luke blinks away his tear, eyes turning to the little one in his arms. “Your father is the kindest man I met, Grogu,” he confesses. Grogu burbles happily—in the kid’s eyes, the man is nothing but a legendary hero and father. He offers Grogu a wet smile. “Now let’s get you back to him, okay? And then maybe I can offer him that goodbye you were just talking about.

Grogu doesn’t complain again at all until they reach Din’s place.

Luke doesn’t know if the man is even awake, but instead of letting himself in like he’s so used to doing—Din keeps his door locked day and night, but Luke has a key and now that he’s thinking, they’ve been acting pretty much like a couple for months now—he gently knocks on the door. His knees feel weak and his heart is slamming against his ribs, but he tries to keep his composure. Grogu is right. He chickened out way too many times already.

The door opens, revealing Din, his armor fully on. Luke’s brows climb to his forehead, ready to ask why exactly is the Mandalorian sleeping with his armor, until Din’s helmet turns to Grogu and tension visibly drains from his shoulders. “Grogu,” he whispers, desperation tinting his voice even through the modulator, and reaches for his kid. Grogu lets his father place him under the crook of his helmet, gloved hands smoothing his ears, and coos innocently. “You scared me, you little womp rat. Don’t leave the house without telling me again.”

His voice is shaky and his tone is harsh, but there’s no real anger behind the Mandalorian’s words. Just relief. Luke tries to smile, hoping it doesn’t look too forced. “Sorry he scared you. I think he wanted to come find me. To say goodbye.” His voice trails off when Din turns to him, realizing only then that Luke is in his black cloak and flight suit.

“Going somewhere?” he asks, arm tightening around Grogu. “I didn’t know you had a scheduled trip.”

_Well, that’s because I didn’t tell you._ Luke just shrugs. “It’s kind of an emergency thing. They need me to investigate this Sith artefact. You know how the New Republic is—they hear the S word, and they run to the mountains.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Luke looks up, trying to see Din’s eyes—they’re brown as far as he remembers—through the visor, wishing he could get lost in them once before he left.

He shrugs. “Possibly. Last time I encountered a Sith, I almost died.”

_“Luke._ ”

“I’ll be fine.” _Probably._ “I’m not going to fight any Sith. They’re extinct, remember?” Somehow, Din doesn’t look convinced. “I’m just supposed to investigate the artefact, make sure it won’t blow up and, like, kill half the universe.” Din is silent for a moment.

“You’re horrible at reassuring people.” Luke snorts. _I wonder who I got that from,_ he thinks, looking back at all of his father’s attempts to reassure Luke that his friendship with Din wouldn’t combust spectacularly if he asked the man out.

Din’s shoulders drop with a sigh. “There’s nothing I can do to convince you to stay, right?” A few things immediately come to mind and Luke’s cheeks flush red. But he just shakes his head.

“Besides the fact that the Republic won’t let it go until I do it, I need to make sure whatever this is, it’s safe.” He stops and his eyes skim Din’s visor, trying to imagine his eyes in front of him. “I can’t let it hurt the people that I love.”

“What about your safety?” Din whispers after a moment of silence. “What about the people who love you?” Luke pretty much stops breathing. He searches Din’s visor as if he’ll be able to find anything there, but… The implication is clear. It’s there, Din’s offering it to him, and all he has to do is grab it. Just let the words out.

Instead, he forces a smile on his face. “You know why I never believed Jedi when they said attachments were bad?” he offers with a small shrug. Din tilts his head curiously. “They had no one to come back home to. I never understood why they fought to survive, if they didn’t have any loved ones waiting for them when their missions were done.” He stops for a second. “And Leia would’ve drop kicked me if I tried to force her to give her son up so he can be trained in the proper Jedi way, but that’s another story.”

A chuckle escapes Din’s lips and pride bubbles in Luke’s chest. If anything were to happen to him, at least he left Din with a smile on his face. “I have too much to live for, Din. I’ll come back,” he promises to the Mandalorian, reaching to put a hand on the Mandalorian’s. He holds his breath, waiting for Din’s reaction—a part of him is still afraid that Din would push it away, despite everything—and Din turns his hand around, locking their fingers together.

“And we’ll have all the time in the world,” Din finishes the promise, voice hoarse. Luke is pretty sure he’s crying under the helmet. He has to blink away his own tears.

He offers the Mandalorian one last smile, and then turns to walk away. If he stays longer, he’ll _actually_ stay, and that won’t help anyone.

“Luke?” He turns around when he hears Din’s voice and comes to a complete stop. Din is standing there, helmet dangling from his fingers, looking at him with wide brown eyes. His hair is falling on his forehead in messy curls, and his lips are curled up into a tight smile. Luke was right, too—he’s definitely crying.

Luke knows he should look away. He should honor Din’s creed, he should turn away and give the man his privacy, but he can’t. His eyes are locked with Din’s, swallowing every bit of detail on the man’s face and branding them into his mind.

All he can offer back is a shaky smile, his own tears spilling down his cheeks. He turns around when he feels the sobs rise in his throat—never mind speaking, he doesn’t even think he can open his mouth without crying. Instead, he opts to hold onto the promise he made Din. He’d come back, and they’d have the world.

That promise still rings in Luke’s hear as he makes is final approach to the Sith artefact. The last thing he remembers is losing control of his X-wing as its window shatters, shards covering him in scars.

Then everything turns black. 

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry for that cliffhanger. i'll try to get the next chapter done as quickly as possible, i promise. but in the meantime, hope this little drawing i made of Grogu and Din collecting flowers makes up for it!


	6. and when I was shipwrecked, I thought of you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first of all, sorry it took me so long to post this! it's a bit of a longer chapter and i just wanted to make sure it was written well, and it was a good ending to the story. thanks for the patience, and sorry for leaving you with that cliffhanger!
> 
> also, i want to thank all of you for your enthusiasm for this story! your comments literally kept me going and made me giddy every time i posted a new chapter. thank you for sticking with me and i hope you enjoy this ending!

**+1: Din**

Luke feels dizzy as light starts to seep through his eyelids, slowly clawing him away from the arms of his sleep. He is pretty sure he’s lying down somewhere—it _is_ a mattress he feels under himself, right? And he thinks there’s a fuzzy blanket covering him—but his head is swimming, as if instead of being on solid ground, he’s falling from the sky.

Falling… The sensation feels oddly familiar. Did he end up falling from somewhere? He doesn’t remember. He scrunches up his brows—even _that_ takes effort—and tries to think of the last thing he remembers. He…had a mission. To investigate the Sith artefact. He’s been worrying about it for days, not only because he had no idea what it could be—the Force ghosts or the Jedi texts weren’t exactly helpful—but because of what he would leave behind.

His heart aches when he thinks about Din, and he quickly dismisses it from his mind. First, he has to figure out what happened to him. _Then_ he can worry about his non-existent relationship with the Mandalorian.

When trying to look back at his memories yields no results other than waking up early the day of the mission—his last memory of the day was making himself caf, which wasn’t helpful one bit—he tries to feel his body. If he determines what kind of damage he suffered from, maybe he can figure out at least what kind of an accident he’s been in. Maybe it’s something small. Maybe it isn’t a big deal and he’s worrying himself over for nothing.

He uses the Force to scan his body, feeling the scars. There seems to be a whole lot of them on his face and hands, as if he was right next to a window as it exploded. He feels a bump on the side of his head, covered by a bandage—probably a bad hit. Bandages also cover his shoulder and he’s pretty sure there’s a giant gash underneath. He feels bruising all over his body, as if he was thrown around a ship as it crashed, and there’s no missing his broken ribs—

He stops. _Thrown around a ship…_ That rings a bell. He did take his X-Wing to the Sith artefact. Did he crash? That would explain a lot of his injuries— _wait._ Is he still at the crash site? He was pretty sure he was on a bed but maybe he was wrong. Being next to a Sith artefact, something that is so strong with the dark side of the Force… Who knows what the _thing_ could make him think? His heartrate spikes as he tries to will his eyes to open, tries to ignore the bright whiteness of the room and just _focus, focus, focus_ —

“Luke.” A familiar voice interrupts him and Luke sees a hand move to his forehead. He doesn’t necessarily feel it physically, but he feels its presence there, grounding him back to reality. “You’re safe. Relax.”

Luke blinks multiple time, trying to adjust his gaze to the light, and comes face to face with his father. His form is shivering in the Force, as if he has to actively focus to keep himself here, and despite the smile on his face, Luke can see the lines of worry on his forehead and around his eyes. Ever since he became a Force ghost, Anakin has never looked this old to Luke.

“Father…” Luke opens his mouth to speak, but all that comes out is a weak hoarse. His throat is so dry that it feels like someone’s scraping him. Anakin gestures at the bedside table, where a large glass of water rests. He thankfully notes that there’s a straw in it as well because he really doesn’t think he can take the glass without dropping it. He leans to the side and takes careful sips from the water.

“How are you feeling?” Anakin asks, watchful eyes following him. Luke considers for a second.

“Like I’ve been in a ship crash,” he huffs out, earning an eyeroll from his father. “Which I’m assuming is what happened.”

“You could say that. The Sith artefact…” Anakin’s eyes turn glassy as he stares somewhere above Luke’s shoulder. “When Obi-Wan and I visited it as ghosts, it didn’t react to our presence. We assumed it’d be safe for you, but I think it sensed you coming.”

Luke’s mind blanks for a second. “You mean the _abandoned artefact_ attacked me?”

“We believe it was trying to protect itself from a Jedi. It’s hard to be sure without a proper test—and _don’t get any ideas, kid._ No one in this place will let you get anywhere close to that planet again.” Luke realizes that Anakin, who is generally easygoing and sarcastic about almost anything, looks genuinely troubled. “You gave us quite the heart attack.”

“How did you…” Luke’s voice cracks and he has to stop for a second, trying to think. “I don’t remember sending a distress signal. How did anyone know I needed help?”

“You can thank Grogu for that. The kriffing womp rat is so attuned to the Force that he immediately sensed something was up. Din was in his spaceship, following you in a matter of minutes.”

“Oh. I didn’t know— _wait.”_ Luke’s heart stutters in his chest. “ _Din_ came after me?” Anakin stays silent, but it’s answer enough. “But… It was a Sith artefact! And if I couldn’t handle it… What if it was dangerous for him? He has to take care of Grogu!”

“I don’t think he cared about any of that, Luke.” Anakin’s voice is impossibly soft as he offers his son a smile. “He knew the Senate would never approve sending anyone on a rescue mission, not after what happened to you. Din’s ship was the only one that would fly under the radar.” That doesn’t do anything to ease Luke’s panic. Anakin offers an unapologetic shrug. “Would it help if I said Yoda and Obi-Wan were pretty sure the Sith artefact reacted to you because you were a Jedi, and not because you were, you know, _there?_ ”

“ _No!_ I took the mission alone so no one would get hurt. He shouldn’t have—“

“But he _did_.” And Anakin’s words are final. “He followed you without hesitation. He barely listened to Leia’s warnings. He even made sure to save R2 because he knew just how much the droid means to you.” Anakin doesn’t need to say it out loud. The meaning is clear. Din _loves_ Luke, just as fiercely as Luke _loves_ Din. Luke knows that if the roles were reversed, he would’ve run after Din in a heartbeat.

His throat knots as he thinks about just how close he got to losing his life. Losing everything he could’ve had with Din.

“Where is he?” he asks his father softly, his heart yearning for the man’s presence. Anakin smiles and steps aside, gesturing at the couch on the other side of the room. There Din is, curled up on the small space with his helmet and armor, one hand dangling off of the couch. Luke realizes quickly that the beskar is covered in dried blood, as if Din didn’t even bother cleaning it up. The ache in his chest has nothing to do with his broken ribs.

“He hasn’t slept since he ran after you,” Anakin informs him and Luke’s brows climb to his forehead. Even through hyperspace, it was a 30 hours roundtrip, not including the time Din would’ve spent searching for Luke. “He pretty much crashed right after he made sure you were in good hands. It was kind of hilarious watching Han and Leia try to carry him to the couch from where he fell on the floor.”

Luke’s eyes fill with tears. “He loves me,” he whispers, and for once, he believes that statement wholeheartedly. He was right—Din is someone who shows his affection through his actions. And nothing speaks louder than _this._

“When he wakes up, don’t berate him for following you. That’s the last thing he needs right now.” And Luke agrees. As much as he’s pissed off that Din would risk his life like that, there’s no point in bringing it up. “Just… Just be gentle with him. The last couple of days was…a lot.” 

Luke thinks there’s something Anakin’s not telling him, something that happened as Din tried to rescue him, but he doesn’t press his father. He’s not sure if he even wants to know.

“How long was I asleep?” Luke asks instead and watches Anakin’s shoulder tighten. His form shivers, as if it’s an effort to keep himself in the physical plane. His eyes are sadder than Luke has ever seen when he looks down at his son.

“You mean since your ship spectacularly crashed on the Sith artefact, or since Din dragged your ass here?” Even the joke falls flat. Anakin sighs and crosses his arms. “About eight hours, give or take.”

Luke has never seen the Mandalorian sleep more than _seven._ He lets his head fall back onto the pillow. He’s exhausted—even moving a little bit and talking was a lot of strain for his body—yet he tries to keep his eyes open.

“You can rest, you know?”

“And miss Din waking up and seeing me out cold?” He imagines the Mandalorian stand up from the couch and Luke is just lying there, eyes closed. He has to be awake, just for the fact that Din can see he’s fine.

“He’s not going to wake up for a while, Luke.” Anakin puts a hand on Luke’s forehead. “And you look quite horrible right now. I’m sure he’d appreciate it if you took care of yourself a bit better.”

“Thanks, _dad._ ”

“I’ll wake you up if he wakes up before you.” Luke searches his father’s face. He’s telling the truth. “Now sleep. Let your body heal itself. You can be selfish every now and then.”

“That doesn’t sound very Jedi like.”

“Neither does attachments.” Luke glances at his father, his cheeks flaming red. Anakin’s eyes are impossibly soft, completely devoid of blame. “But I have a feeling it’s about time a new Jedi Order is made. The old one kind of sucked.”

“Yoda won’t be too happy about that.”

“Eh. He can’t stop you now, can he?” Luke’s eyes find Din’s figure again, and he feels the truth of his father’s words in his heart. “Besides, it’s not love that makes us fall. Selfishly trying to hold onto it does. I believe you don’t have to worry about that.”

Luke takes in a shuddered breath, thinking about the lengths he’d go to ensure Din and Grogu’s safety. He isn’t as sure as his father, but he nods. He doesn’t think he has the strength to deny himself a life with Din. He doesn’t think either of them deserve it.

Anakin’s fingers pass through Luke’s hair, and he feels a slight breeze. “Now rest.” It’s as if his father wills it with the Force. In a matter of seconds, Luke’s eyes flutter close.

* * *

It isn’t Anakin that wakes Luke up merely two hours later, but it’s a soft babble and a weight shifting on his chest. He blinks his eyes open and finds Grogu sitting there, claws firmly clasping the blanket covering Luke’s bare shoulders, eyes focused.

Luke also feels none of the wounds from before and his brows climb to his forehead. He’s just about to ask whether Grogu somehow Force healed him—he’s seen mentions of it in the old Jedi texts, but he never knew it was even _possible_ and where exactly did the kid learn that?—when his sister’s voice interrupts his thought process.

“We couldn’t keep him away from you.” Luke’s eyes find Leia, sitting next to him on a chair she must’ve pulled from the cafeteria. “We thought healing you would be too much of a strain but he kept Han and I up all night. We had to give in.”

Luke turns to Grogu and watches the kid’s large, bright eyes. Grogu looks excessively proud of himself as he flops onto Luke’s chest, claws reaching out to his hair. “Babba,” he babbles, and Luke is pretty sure he didn’t mean “papa” and there’s _no way_ Grogu looks at him that way, but his heart soars in his chest.

“You’re a little troublemaker, aren’t you?” he murmurs, tracing Grogu’s ears with his gloved finger. “Thank you for healing me.”

Grogu grins and coos. He doesn’t look drained at all, which eases some worry off of Luke’s shoulders. He wonders whether that’s because his body did most of the healing before Grogu even interrupted, but he’s not about to question it.

“How are you feeling?” Concern laces Leia’s voice. Luke takes a good look at her sister for once. Even if Grogu looks fine, she seems completely drained. There are large circles under her eyes and her hair, which is usually in a tight bun or braid, sticks up in every direction. Even her clothes seem wrinkled. He feels a pang of pain.

“I’m fine now.” And it’s the truth. With Grogu working his…magic—isn’t that what Din always calls the Force?—he feels completely normal. “I’m so sorry for worrying you.”

“Yeah, you could say that.” A humorless laugh escapes her lips. “I should’ve said no to that stupid mission from the beginning.”

“Leia, you didn’t have a choice. The Senate was breathing down your neck—”

“So what? I’ve handled worse.” Leia shrugs so dismissively that Luke wonders what exactly her sister’s political life is like. He doesn’t ask questions and she generally doesn’t talk about it. “I could’ve made sure you had a team with you. I could’ve stopped you from going alone. Instead I just let my brother walk into a trap.”

“We didn’t know it was a trap.”

“It was a _Sith artefact._ We were naïve thinking that just because you got rid of the Sith, their legacy wouldn’t be dangerous.” She tucks a stray hair behind her ear, her breaths coming out shakily. Luke sneaks a hand out of the blanket to hold hers.

“Leia, I’m safe now, aren’t I? It’s all in the _past_.”

“No thanks to me.” Her voice is impossibly soft. Luke doesn’t think he’s seen his sister this shaken. “By the time I even convinced the Senate to a rescue mission, Din was back.” Her eyes have a haunted look to them. Through the Force, Luke gets a glimpse of her memories right when Din landed. They’re in disarray, as if Leia was just too worried to keep a straight mind, but Luke gets enough of a picture of it. Din’s words ring in his ears.

_He lost a lot of blood…_

_Large cut on his shoulders, bruising everywhere, I think I broke his ribs when his heart stopped…_

_Had to keep the ship below freezing point to preserve his organs…_

_Leia, he needs blood replacement!_

_Check his heart, it stopped twice already…_

_Make sure he lives. Please. Keep him alive._

Luke blinks, his eyes falling on the Mandalorian again. Even through Leia’s jumbled memories, it’s easy to hear the desperation that tints Din’s voice. He thinks back to what his father said. _The last couple of days was a lot._ Luke knew something must’ve happened, but this…

If everything Luke just saw is true, he believes it. Without Leia’s grounding hand in his, he feels like he would’ve had a breakdown right then and there.

“You know, if you don’t ask him out, I’ll do it for you.”

Luke laughs through his tears. “Yeah, that sentiment seems to be going around.”

* * *

Din sleeps a total of sixteen hours. It’s impressive on its own, but even more so since the room got quite loud at times, whether it’s Grogu throwing a tantrum to stay with his “fathers”—that’s the word he used through the force and Luke died a little bit inside, in the best way possible—or Luke’s students visiting to make sure their Master is okay.

Luke stays with Din, even though he feels well enough to leave the medical area—all thanks to Grogu. He spends the night hours sitting in front of the couch, half meditating, half holding Din’s hand. He cleans up Din’s armor even, so soft and careful with his touch, and Din sleeps through it all.

He only stirs when the first light of the day starts sneaking into the room. Luke feels the shift in the Force around him and he quickly jumps up from his seat, his book forgotten on the ground, and rushes to Din’s side. He can’t see whether Din’s eyes are open or not because of the helmet. It doesn’t matter. He reaches and puts a hand on his, blinking back the sudden tears.

He’s so glad that they’re alone right now and sends a quick Force request to Leia to keep the room out of limits for a while. He doesn’t expect her to be awake, but her response is quick and laced with an order to make Din his boyfriend or so help the Force, Leia will smack him upside down. Luke just smiles.

“Din?” he whispers, voice quiet and almost afraid. Din’s body freezes for a second, but then shoots up the couch, hand instinctively going to his blaster.

He comes to a complete stop when he sees Luke. The Jedi tries to put a genuine smile on his face, even though there’s such a large knot in his throat that it takes effort to keep his tears at bay. He wants to say something, but he doesn’t trust his voice. He doesn’t even know what he would say anyway.

Then Din shakily removes his helmet, and Luke forgets to breathe.

It’s the third time he sees the Mandalorian’s face. The first was on the light cruiser, when Luke came to save the kid. At the time, he paid more attention to Grogu than Din—something he regretted for the next couple of years. He remembered vaguely that the man had messy brown curls and a mustache, but that was pretty much it.

The next time was right before he left for his mission. He drank in the sight at the time, but he was too far to make out the features. The brown eyes were branded into his mind, but that was all he could gather from the brief moment.

Now he’s close enough to see all the dips and crevices on Din’s face, and he thinks he falls in love all over again. It probably wouldn’t have mattered what Din looked like—Luke isn’t one to care about looks much—but Din is beautiful. Even with the messy helmet hair, even with the collapsed cheeks and dark circles under his eyes, even with the pale lips, he’s stunning. Luke wants to reach up and touch him, to feel his skin underneath his fingertips, but his muscles are locked. All he can do is stare silently—he doesn’t even blink, let alone look away.

Then Din’s eyes start shimmering and a choked sob escapes his lips. Luke is quickly thrown back to the reality when Din takes his face in his hands, his body trembling like a leaf.

Din breaks down and for a moment, Luke is out of his depth, not knowing how to comfort him. But he remembers when he had his own breakdown over the stupid daisy—after the last few days, it really does feel stupid—how Din just held him, and how that was enough. He moves to the couch, right next to Din, and pulls the man close. Din’s armor hits him squarely in the chest, the man’s arms sneaking around him and holding him tightly, yet Luke doesn’t even feel the pain. He tucks Din’s head to the crook of his neck, pressing his cheek on his head. He remembers just how _grounding_ it was for him when Din did the same.

“I’m here,” he whispers, mainly because he doesn’t know what else to say. _Everything will be okay_ feels to much of an empty promise and _I’m fine_ feels like it would only remind Din that merely a day ago, Luke was quite _not fine._ He runs a hand through Din’s messy hair. “I’m here. Hey. I’m with you.”

It’s an effort for _Luke_ to keep himself together when Din shivers under his touch. His hands grasp Luke’s shirt tightly, as if he’s trying to ground himself into the reality where Luke is alive and get rid of his nightmares. He isn’t making any noises—in fact, Luke only knows that he must be crying because he feels the wetness on his shoulder—but that doesn’t break the Jedi’s heart any less.

“I’m sorry, Din.” His voice is shaky, but somehow he knows Din won’t care. “I’m sorry I went to that stupid mission. I’m sorry you had to come save me. I just…” Just _what?_ Luke can’t even come up with a proper excuse. He sighs, hugging Din closer, hoping the tightness of his embrace shows that he’s completely healed and fine. He’s here, he’s alive and _breathing,_ all thanks to Din.

“I don’t regret it.” It’s Din that breaks the silence. His voice his hoarse, especially now that he doesn’t have the helmet on. He lifts his head and Luke only has a second to be disappointed, because then Din rests his forehead against his and the Jedi forgets how to breath. He hears Din’s words through a haze. “Can you read my thoughts?”

“What?” His mind is slow to piece together what Din is asking. “I don’t…do that. It’s… I won’t breach your privacy.”

“No, I know that.” _Oh. Right_. “But I know you can read Grogu’s thoughts, or Leia’s. Can you… Can you do that with me?” Din’s hand sneaks up Luke’s arm and the fingertips of his gloves brush the ends of his hair. Luke almost wants to ask him to stop because _how does Din expect him to think clearly when he’s doing_ that? Instead, he nods.

“If you wanted me to.” He feels Din’s eyes flutter close.

“Then do it.” His voice is rough and Luke, after a moment of surprise, tries to see if there’s any hesitation in Din, but he doesn’t feel any of it. Still, he doesn’t immediately jump into Din’s mind. He’s slow, staying on the surface, giving Din time to tell him to stop if he doesn’t want it.

Instead, he’s welcomed with a barrage of memories. He inhales sharply, panicked for a second that he jumped in too deep too quickly, but then he realizes it’s Din providing him the memories. He calms his heart and dives in, trying to unscramble the threads, pulling the first memory to himself.

* * *

_He’s in Din’s ship, huddled under a blanket, freezing. He can’t feel his hands or feet. He doesn’t care. His eyes are focused on the heart monitor. Luke’s heartbeats are slow but steady. He needs blood soon, but the cold will slow down his circulation. There’s only three hours left. He needs to land the ship, but he’ll worry about that when it comes to that._

* * *

_He’s by his son. Grogu is worried – something happened to Luke, something horrible. Leia tells him to stay. Leia will get him help from the Senate. He knows she won’t succeed. He smooths Grogu’s thin tufts of hair with a shaky hand and presses a kiss on his head. “I’ll come back. I’ll get Luke and come back.” Grogu coos miserably._

* * *

_Luke’s heart stops. He hears the solid beep of the heart monitor. He jumps and starts chest compressions. He’s pretty sure he hears Luke’s ribs break, but it doesn’t matter. This is all he has—his hands, trying to keep Luke from slipping into the claws of death. One minute. Two. Then the beeps of the heart monitor normalize again. Shaking, he falls to the ground next to the cot. He almost lost Luke. He cries._

* * *

_He grabs tubes from the drawer of knick-knacks. Luke needs blood transfusion. He doesn’t know if they’re a match. He doesn’t even know how he would draw his own blood. He drops the tubes, desperate. Ten more hours._

* * *

_Luke’s X-Wing is trashed. Metal is scattered everywhere, trees are flattened. He finds the cockpit—it’s caved in. It takes him three minutes to pry it open, heart slamming against his ribs. Luke is covered in blood and bruises. His heart stop until he presses two fingers to Luke’s neck. There’s a faint heartbeat. He’s so relieved that he almost breaks._

* * *

_He cleans Luke’s wounds. The flight suit is a lost cause, but he saves the cloak. It’s tucked neatly in the cockpit of his ship. Blood dried all over Luke—it takes him at least three buckets of water to get all of it out. Luke’s heartbeats are worryingly slow. He just hopes he’ll make it. His beskar is covered in blood too, but he doesn’t care. He can take care of that later._

* * *

_The second time Luke’s heart stops, he curses that he dropped the temperature in the ship. He barely feels his fingers, but he grits through the pain. He can’t let Luke die._

* * *

_His teeth are clattering as he lands the spaceship. Leia and Han are there. He doesn’t want to hand Luke away but his knees are about to give out. He’s shivering, he’s weak, he’s tired. He needs sleep. He makes sure Luke is getting the medical attention he needs, and then his vision blacks out._

* * *

_Luke is pale. His eyes are closed, lashes fanning over his cheeks, hair slightly messy from his attempts at cleaning off the dried blood. Yet he’s beautiful. He traces Luke’s face with shaky fingers, memorizing the dips and crevices, the dimples, the flaws and perfections. “I never stay anywhere for long,” he mumbles, confession echoing around the ship. “I stayed here. For Grogu…and for you.” His lips are wobbly, his words quieter than a whisper. “Don’t give me a reason to leave.”_

* * *

_It takes him three weeks to figure out why Grogu keeps bringing him flowers, why he keeps tucking them in his armor. They’re not for him – not entirely. Grogu wants him to give them to Luke. Whenever the Jedi is around he points to him and tucks another flower. The meaning is clear._

_“You want me to ask Luke out?” Din asks one day, when they’re at the field and Luke is sitting a bit away from them with Leia. “Kid, I don’t think that’s possible.” Grogu coos in disagreement and tucks another flower into Din’s hands. “Jedi don’t have attachments. I don’t want him to have to choose between his creed and me.” He is silent for a moment. “He never asked me to remove my helmet.” He knows that he would’ve, if Luke just said the words._

_Grogu coos, another flower in his hand, and then points at Luke again. Din sighs._

_“Yeah, kid. I love him, too.”_

* * *

Luke is crying when he pulls himself out of the memories. Din’s hand cups his cheek, wiping away his tears. He realizes only then how stupid he’s been for thinking Din couldn’t possibly love him back. The signs were there, always there. And Luke thinks he never felt so loved in his life.

It’s Din who breaks the silence. “I couldn’t put that into words.” Luke blinks his eyes open and tries to move away to look at Din properly, but he stops him. His hand cups the nape of his neck. “I love you, Luke.”

Luke feels warm all over and his lips tip up into a smile. Instead of answering, he decides to show the Mandalorian just what he feels as well, just as he did for Luke. Leaning forward, he captures Din’s lips in his, pouring every bit of his feeling into the kiss through the Force.

The Jedi dreamed about this moment for months now, yet the real thing doesn’t even _compare._ He feels like he’s soaring, but instead of scary, it feels exhilarating. Din’s hands are all over his body, tracing his curves and scars, and each lick of his lips sends shivers down Luke’s spine. He wants to get lost in the kiss, but in the best way possible. He’s happy—for once, he feels unconditionally, inexplicably happy.

He pulls back only when he needs to breathe. Gently, his fingers play with the ends of Din’s hair, earning a hoarse chuckle from him.

“In case you couldn’t tell,” he starts, leaning back to look at Din. His eyes are the richest shade of chocolate brown, and they exude _happiness._ “I love you, too.” He curls Din’s hair around his fingers and laughs with Din. “Shame it took us so long to figure out.”

Din shrugs, as if he doesn’t care about the past at all. “We have a future.” And Luke realizes, he’s right. They have all the time in the world.

It’s an effort to kiss Din again without breaking into a grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you have any requests for dinluke fics, feel free to send them in the comments! i want to write more for this ship, but i wanted to open it up to you!


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